Cannoli

Oh, this is a little treat. I think of baking as my hobby, and as with most hobbies, sometimes you get stuck in a rut. I think brownies are my rut – I’ve been known to make brownies and only brownies for weeks. They’re easy, delicious and altogether pleasing. But sometimes you want to get out of the rut. You gotta make something new, and something a little tricky.

Enter, cannoli.

I have enjoyed these little crunchy sweet morsels a lot in the last few years, I’ve gotten them from bakeries, markets and Italian delis. And Italy. So delicious. And too hard to make at home, or so I thought. The hardest bit was sourcing ingredients - I couldn't find any traditional (sweet) marsala wine, so I just used regular white wine and they tasted legit!

Like with most hobbies, you need equipment sometimes. I did have to buy these cannoli rings to enable me to make them, but they cost £7 and arrived via next day delivery. That’s the price of 2 costa coffees or one medium-fancy gin – well worth it because I’ll get my money’s worth. They will  be added to my niche kitchen equipment collection which includes donut pans and a sugar thermometer. Very useful gear.

I learned a lot by doing this. You need to roll the dough as thin as you can, with a second roll once you’ve cut it out. And then when sealing the ends together, seal the entirety of the dough where the two ends meet or else it’ll open up. Learn by my example!

Vegan Coconutty Oaty Cookies

I am always up for a baking challenge, and I fancied taking on the challenge of feeding my vegan colleagues at work! I feel bad leaving them out when I bring in my baked goods, so I put my mind to finding some easy vegan recipes. There are a ton of dairy free spreads out there, so that isn’t hard, but eggs are somewhat ubiquitious in baking, and therein lay the difficulty.

Countless google searches and I found an interesting recipe to build on. But I admit, I was sceptical. I didn’t think it was possible to get such chewy and amazingly light cookies without eggs being involved somehow. But these are a damn revelation. Perfect chewiness, easy to make, taste amazing. Win win win.

You know how Phoebe brags that she makes the best oatmeal raisin cookies in the world (but she doesn't make them very often because she doesn't think it's fair to the other cookies!) - well these are those cookies. They look unassuming but they pack a punch!

Makes just over a dozen chunky cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This is pretty much a big Reece’s cup you can serve up as a dessert. The sour quality of the cream cheese cuts nicely through the richness of the chocolate and peanut butter, and I am LOVING the nutty base. I think the base would be lovely with even a normal vanilla cheesecake topping.

It’s a little bit fiddly to cover the filing with the topping without cracking the surface, but even if it goes slightly wrong, it will still marble a bit and taste delicious!

Chicken Noodle Curry

I really love a good Thai green curry, but in the past I’ve really only served it with rice. So, when I came across this recipe for cooking the noodles *in* with everything else, I was intrigued. I do love a one-pot meal, and this combines a lot of my favourite flavours.

Very simple, but do be warned, the noodles suck up the sauce like no-one’s business, so it isn’t the soupy/saucy thai green curry you may be used to. It is nevertheless delicious! One of those perfect weekday meals when you’ve come home wanting something low effort, but still warming and utterly delicious. I added broccoli as a side, but it didn’t work all that well, might have been better chopped smaller and added at the beginning of the veggie cooking process.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• 3 spring onions, diced
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 3cm piece of ginger, frinely chopped
• 1 tbsp green curry paste
• 300ml chicken stock
• 200ml coconut milk
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 100g egg noodles
• Juice of 1 lime
• Optional: 2 tbsp peanuts, to serve (I didn’t have any!)

Method

Heat 1 tbsp oil and fry off the chicken for 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the rest of the oil, and fry the scallion for a few minutes. Then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 more minute and then add in the curry paste and stir.

Add in the chicken stock, coconut milk and fish sauce – bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add the noodles and chicken, and allow to cook until the noodles are cooked through – about 5-7 minutes.

Spoon onto the plate and sprinkle the peanuts on top.

Sweet Potato and Rice Croquettes

Crunchy, sweet, and filling, I’m kind of in love with these little flavour bombs. 

So, my love of the sweet potato must be boring everyone by now. Each time I post a new recipe, you must be thinking, finally, she’s found the absolute last way to cook a sweet potato. And then I post another!

So, in my search for more ways to utilise this most versatile of tubers, I came across the idea for these delicious croquettes, perfect for a side eg at a barbeque with some sweet chilli sauce, but I really liked mine alongside some curry, the saucy spiciness really complements the sweet crunchiness.

Sort of like a hash brown IN A DREAM WORLD.

Autumnal Baking - Apple and Marzipan Crumble Tart

OMG this one is a good one. I love autumn baking.

I decided to make some tweaks to an old favourite, because despite the boyfriend CLAIMING he enjoyed my Apple and Marzipan Pie when I first made it, now he doesn’t. Right.

So, I took what he didn’t like (big chunks of apple) and decided to make stewed apple to put on top of the marzipan layer. And he LOVES crumble, so I topped it with a spiced cinnamon almond crumble. Note – this is also a MUCH easier topping than a pie crust!

I have to confess, this is the first time I’ve ever made stewed apple. For some reason I thought it was a really labour intensive , time-consuming process. FALSE.

It’s so easy! It’s the opposite of labour intensive. Do it now. You won’t regret it.

Caramelitas

So, I went home recently and was trying out a few new coffee places. And all of them were serving these flapjack looking caramel chocolate creations. They were called labelled “caramelitas” and I’d never heard of them before. I obviously bought one to try, and then immediately decided that I had to make my own. We’re basically talking a sugary crumble bar with chocolate and caramel filling.

Buuuut the amazing thing about this is that you can make a load of different types based on what you like and what’s in the cupboard. Here, I’ve made the basic chocolatey caramel ones (with coconut!) as well as some nutty ones with hazelnuts and Nutella sprinkled in. I’ve also made them recently with coconut added to the caramel and chocolate, and also spiced ones with Lotus biscuit spread and cinnamon powder.

This recipe makes two full trays of biscuit-y, caramel-y, chocolate-y gooey goodness. Feel free to halve it if you don’t feel like gorging on dozens of these things. You crazy person.